Since the start of this year we have seen a lot of parties going to the 'blu camp'. Writing this down might look like one-sided reporting, but it's definitely important. Rumors indicate that HD DVD is losing the support of one of its few hardware supporters outside of Toshiba. The Japanese manufacturer Onkyo was announced as a major supporter several times and to ensure this Onkyo debuted a standalone player by the end of 2007... The Onkyo DV-HD805.
The DV-HD805 was based around Toshiba's HD-XE1, and because of that, went unnoticed in the United Kingdom. After this Onkyo decided to no longer 'bring DV-HD805's to the UK'. Onkyo's announcement is not yet fully confirmed, so we can expect some hardware to hit the market... After being eclipsed by Toshiba's HD-XE1, Onkyo also has a problem with Toshiba's pricing strategy.
It appears that the low retail prices are a reason for Onkyo to re-evaluate its relationship with Toshiba. Onkyo announced that they are always trying to add value to a given product-category. 'If a category becomes commoditised - as this sector shows signs of becoming - there's less reason to commit huge resources to it.'
We can conclude that Toshiba's strategy to sell more hardware by dropping prices is working in sales, but is also driving manufacturers away from the format. Onkyo will still come with a new player this year, but isn't willing to confirm if this will be HD DVD-only or not.
